mgo.licio.us

"The face of the operation is Briatore (referred to exclusively in the film by his colleagues and angry, chanting detractors as "Flavio"), an anthropomorphic radish who spends most of his time at QPR plotting to fire all of the managers."

At press time, Harbaugh had sent Michigan’s athletic department an envelope containing a heavily annotated seating chart, a list of the 63,000 seat views he had found unsatisfactory, and a glowing 70-page report on section 25, row 12, seat 9, which he claimed is “exactly what the great sport of football is all about.”

OK, I was thinking of the "Heritage Classic" (Edmonton and Calgary have each hosted one), not the "Winter Classic." Typical NHL - come up with two different names for the same thing, thereby diluting its recognition.

Not really... the Heritage Classic was a one off game that then inspired the idea of the Winter Classic and it was resurected when Canadian teams whined about never getting to host the Winter Classic (for obvious ratings reasons). That's to say nothing of the fact that the original Heritage Classic was played in November, so calling it the Winter Classic wouldn't have made sense.

Considering the shortage of Canadians venues (there's no useable outdoor venues in Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa or Vancouver and Winnipeg is much too cold) and the effect a Canadian team other than Toronto or Montreal would have on American ratings, it makes sense to have two separate brands for these events.

When your team is winning, be ready to be tough, because winning can make you soft. On the other hand, when your team is losing, stick by them. Keep believing. -- Bo Schembechler

Yes, hockey fans have been screwed this year. Thankfully though, we will not be penalized and they will not move the game elsewhere. The only questions I ask are, 1 Do we really have to allow the OHL be involved in this event? With their SEC like recruiting tatics, I really wish we could remove them from this event. 2. Will Michigan have a goalie that can finish 3 periods?? ( OK i kid about number 2, but seriously!!!!)

The 24/7 series has been awesome for the Winter Classic games the past few seasons. It was fun to see colorful characters like Torts and Bruce Boudreau. Will be real interesting to see how the wings will look behind the scenes, as we have always had a business first mentality.

If the Winter Classic were earlier on Super Bowl Sunday or even the previous weekend when there is no football, then they would be able to capitalize on the nation's attention. Instead, the Winter Classic will have a smaller tv audience than the taxslayer.com bowl.

The Winter Classic gets perfectly good ratings going against college football, much better than the Gator Bowl... think about it, if Michigan isn't playing on NYD what do you do? Blindly watch one other game from kick off till the whistle blows? No, I'm guessing you flip between several games. And with the Winter Classic on, you probably flip between that, too. And since most of the country has no vested interest in Ole Miss vs Iowa, say, it's a good bet that a lot of people will find their way to the Winter Classic.

The event is actually one of the most successful things the NHL has ever done... tinkering with it in the hopes of making it even bigger would be the stupidest thing ever, and even the NHL isn't that stupid. And Super Bowl Sunday is a no-go... NBC's contract with the NFL stipulates that they can't show the NHL on NFL Sundays, meaning that it couldn't be played in that spot every third year.

When your team is winning, be ready to be tough, because winning can make you soft. On the other hand, when your team is losing, stick by them. Keep believing. -- Bo Schembechler

Also, I've personally never watched a winter classic and haven't invested a dime in NHL products since the last lockout. Maybe I'm not the best target demo, but I really think they're missing an opportunity to grow the audience.